20-year rule: Record transfer report

Government departments that transfer records to The National Archives provide data on the volume and transfer status of the records they hold. This data is collected in spring and autumn each year, and began in autumn 2012.

Access the record transfer report

The file shows the data provided by Government departments that transfer records to The National Archives. The 21 departments that transfer 90% of the records sent to The National Archives each year are listed in A-Z order, with the data from the remaining departments included in the report then also listed alphabetically.

Data visualisation

Our new data-driven visual display for the top 21 transferring government departments enables easier comparison between legacy, current and future forecasts of departmental record figures, and is designed to be easily viewed on mobile devices.

Legacy, current and forecast figures

Government bodies that transfer records to The National Archives provide data on the volume of records they hold in the following categories:

legacy - records due for transfer or disposal by the previous year and now overdue

current - records due for transfer or disposal in the current year

forecast - records due for transfer or disposal next year

Lord Chancellor's Instruments

Public records selected for permanent preservation should be transferred to The National Archives or an approved place of deposit by the time the records become historical records, unless the Lord Chancellor authorises a department to keep them for longer. This approval is recorded in instruments signed by the Lord Chancellor (known as Lord Chancellor's Instruments or LCIs). For independent advice on questions relating to access to public records, the Lord Chancellor refers to the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives.

Figures provided are split into records covered by an LCI and records not covered by an LCI.

Comments

Explanatory comments are given by departments to accompany the survey data with further information provided by some departments on their websites. The number of records shown as being planned for transfer is a forecast of how many records will be transferred to The National Archives by the end of the calendar year.